Witnesses renew doubts over China villager's death
A new account of the gruesome death of a village leader fighting for better compensation for seized land is renewing suspicions of police involvement and adding to a growing credibility issue for China's government. The latest report emerged Thursday, posted by reporter Liu Jianfeng of the China Economic Times newspaper on his blog after he spent eight days visiting Qian's Zhaiqiao village. It cited a witness who described seeing four men in helmets and dark blue riot police uniforms — without badges — using police batons to beat the tall and sturdy 53-year-old Qian to the ground. A red truck was parked on the road about 15 feet (five meters) away, Liu cited the witness as saying. "After they pinned him down, they waved and shouted to the truck to come over," he quoted the witness as saying. "The truck slowly drove over, and two of the men jumped aside while the other two held Qian down. Just behind the truck there were also about 20 men in riot police uniforms."